Hidden in the dark woods
by Neiroel
Summary: The elfmaiden Nuriel lived her whole life long in the forest next to Imladris without ever noticing it. Elladan, a son of Elrond finds her and brings her to Imladris. But what is the great secret Nuriel carries with her?
1. Chapter 1

This is for my beta-reader** Morwen80**. The story is not finished yet, I think I'll split in two or three parts.** Morwen**, you started to write your own story, but you didn't really wrote it down, you said something like, you weren't able to put your idea on paper? I don't know but I changed your plot just the pairing is the same, I hope you enjoy your story! (You are Nuriel)

Although it's a bit to late for that, but merry Christmas to all of you, I hope you had a few nice days.

(This story wasn't beta-read for the obvious reason that this is a gift to my beta-reader)

Disclaimer: I just play with the characters, I promise, I won't hurt them (this time)

Please review!

* * *

Nuriel jerked upright. There was a noise nearby in the forest, which wasn't unnatural because she lived in a forest. But this wasn't a noise she knew, she nearly lived her whole life in the forest and this wasn't a normal noise. This rustle was not produced by an animal she knew and it wasn't produced by an elf or human either, this animal was very load and didn't seem to bother to be quiet. Nuriel pressed herself against the tree and hid from the animal but after a time she turned slowly and saw a big wolf sniffing her trail, it came nearer and nearer. It was bigger than every wolf she had ever seen and had long yellow fangs, it looked really dangerous. Nuriel was afraid, she knew a few techniques to defend herself against Orcs and wild animals and she knew how to shoot with the bow but she just had a long dagger with her and she didn't knew anything about the animal. The wolf was so near now that she could hear it breath and she was sure it could smell her. Shivering with fear, she jumped out of her hiding place and attacked the wolf. It flung her away with it's paw and Nuriel landed hard on the floor she felt her breath knocked out of her lungs. Panting, she stood up and gripped her dagger tighter. She ran towards the animal and cut the it's side open. It howled in pain and drove it's fangs in her side. Nuriel nearly screamed and she felt herself slipping towards unconsciousness but she didn't allow herself to slip away, she knew if she wouldn't kill the wolf now, it would kill her. She collected her last strength and stabbed the wolf through the heart. The last thing she saw before falling unconscious was a figure nearby but she could only see a blurry shadow.

Nuriel woke later, feeling soft sheets and a very mattress. She felt rested although a slight pain in her side. She tried to sit up but gently hands held her down and a voice whispered:

"Careful there, you have been unconscious for a time. Please open your eyes for me."

Nuriel carefully opened her eyes and she was blinded by the bright light in the room so she quickly shut them again. She heard the voice saying:

"Elladan close the curtains please, it's too bright in the room for her too see."

She heard the curtains being closed and opened her eyes again. The soft voice belonged to a man with long dark shiny hair. He looked beautiful ans as he turned to tell the other one something, she saw is ears and was surprised finding them pointy. This man was an elf! The other one looked like the first one, if only a bit younger. As if he had guessed her thoughts, the one near said:

"My name is Elrond and this is my youngest son Elladan. You are in Imladris now, Elrohir, my other son, and Elrohir found you wounded in the forest nearby said you fought against a warg alone with only a dagger." He raised an eyebrow. Nuriel nodded:

"So that is what they are called, I thought it to be a wolf."

She closed her eyes, she was exhausted after such a short time of being awake. She had never felt so weak in her whole life. Suddenly the door opened and an elf with blond hair came inside. He quickly bowed and said afterwards:

"My lord Elrond, your assistance is needed in an other healing room, the healers can't handle a bad wound alone, they asked for your help."

Elrond nodded and followed the blond elf out of the room.

Nuriel tried to stay awake, she didn't want to appear weak in front of Elladan, who was still in the room. As her eyes were closed again, she felt a gentle touch on her cheek and heard Elladan whisper softly:

"It is ok to be exhausted, you are still healing. Sleep, you are safe here."

Elladan's voice lured her into sleep again.

Elladan smiled as he saw that the girl he had brought to his father was asleep again. He had feared for her life as he saw her heavily bleeding on the ground. He had seen the girl going down and rushed to her help but found the Warg already dead. He had run back to Imladris as fast as he could to get her into safety. He and his father had worked hard to heal her, while Elrohir checked the borders and she was still alive. She was strong and Elladan liked that. He caressed her cheek and stroke her hair. Smiling fondly, he left the room quietly.

On the next day, Elladan went into the girls room to check on her on saw her tossing a turning in her sleep. He hurried to her side, to keep her still so she could open her wound again...

Nuriel woke up finding hands holding her down. She let a scream of frustration out and fought against the hands, which held her down. She finally succeed after a long fight and punched the one who held her down really hard. She heard a pained cry and felt the man going away. Surprised, she opened her eyes and saw Elladan holding his face and tried to see what damage she had done. A bruise was forming on his face and Nuriel looked ashamed on her hands.

"I'm sorry.",

She whispered. She didn't want to punch Elladan, he was nice to her but she wasn't used to have someone near, she had lived her whole life alone. She was interrupted by Elladan who put his hand on her shoulder

"It's alright, I know that is an instinct when you're trained as a warrior or life your life in the wildness. I should have been more careful. Now let me look at your wound, I have to see if you torn any stitches."

After Elladan had found, that none of the stitches were torn, he sat back and signed. He went to the opposite of the room to get a cool cloth for his face. Nuriel chuckled softly:

"I have never seen or punched an elf before."

Elladan looked surprised at her:

"You haven't? But you are one, did you live your whole life in that forest, alone and abandoned?"

Nuriel nodded:

"I have lived my whole life there but I wasn't alone, there were animals who kept my company."

"You can stay here in Imladris if you want, my father gladly takes lost souls in."

"I would love to stay here, but I don't want to be a burden."

Elladan grinned:

"you won't be a burden! But if you want to stay here, I have to know more about you, what's your name?"

"My name is Nuriel.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_ Hey guys! I hurried and here is an update! This was not beta-read because it is still a present, so I apologize for my mistakes (both grammar and spelling).

I have an announcement to make: I'm going to make a students exchange from January 4. I'll be gone for a half year, although I'll try to update I don't know if I'll have the time to write much, I warned you!

Thank you for the support, thank you very much for following and giving a favorite!

Special thanks for **Morwen80**, **Guest** and **BrownEyedGirl87** for the reviews and your kind words.

There is not much of Elladan, Elrohir and Nuriel in here, I'm sorry, but there will be more in the next chapter

Please review and tell me what you think, what you like and what I should improve.

Happy new year to everyone, 2014 is here! I hope it will be a great year for everyone.

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"Elladan, hurry, come with me." Elrohir came in the room. He was breathless and had a concerned look on his face.

Elladan got up and looked at Elrohir, who was normally the calmer one of the two but he seemed really worried. He asked:

"What happened? You seem really upset."

"I think father is not well.-"

"What?Why do you think that?",interrupted Elladan. Polite or not, Elladan wasn't patient when something happened with the once he loved

"I was going to tell you, before you interrupted me! Father is very pale, he shivers since he entered the great hall and he sways slightly on his feet, but he won't admit that he feels bad, he says he has probably worked too much and requires some rest but I don't believe him. We have seen him very tired before and this was totally different from how he is now. Every idiot could see that he is bad, father is a master at hiding his emotions but he felt never bad enough to not hide his pain. But I can easily see the pain on his face!"

Nuriel looked confused at Elladan. She had seen his dad before but who was this other elf. They looked alike but she could see tiny differences between them: Elrohir was skinnier than Elladan, who had more muscles. But she still didn't know anything about their father, so she asked:

"Who exactly is your father? I know his name is Elrond but I think there is more to that. Everyone seemed to respect you and heeds your commands, Elrohir can run into my room without being chased out again, your father must be a beloved man."

Elladan smiled slightly:"Our father is Elrond Peredhel, the lord from Imladris or Rivendell. He is one of the wisest elves remaining in Middle earth and he is a great healer. But it seems he needs some healing now,"He turned to Elrohir again:

"Does mother already know of fathers illness?"

"No she doesn't but Erestor is on there way to our parents' champers to tell her. I hope she can convince father to rest. She probably will pull him into bed and doesn't let him out until he is well again."

They laughed quietly and left the room. Nuriel laid down again and was soon fast asleep.

Elrond didn't knew what was happening with him, he was terrible dizzy, he felt very close to fainting, his whole body shivered and he had a feeling he was going to be sick soon. He would go to this rooms, lay down and sleep until he was well again but he couldn't do that because he was to exhausted to reach his rooms. It was certain he would collapse on his way there.

He looked to Erestor, Glorfindel and Celebrian, who entered the hall and looked at him with concern in their eyes. Celebrian ran towards him and asked:

"Elrond, my love, are you alright? Erestor said you are sick and I think you look rather unwell too. Come on, I'll bring you to our chambers now. Stand up and come with me, don't make it so difficult for me, you need to lay down and rest."

She began to pull him upright but Elrond protested:

"I can't...stand...too dizzy...will faint."

Celebrian understood what he meant and walked to Glorfindel, who stood nearby and asked him:

"Glorfindel, would you please bring Elrond to our rooms? He is too weak to walk there by himself and said he would probably faint on the way."

Glorfindel nodded, went to Elrond and picked him up. His head laid heavily against his shoulder. It went quiet in the hall the second Glorfindel stood and walked towards the door. Every elf was terrified to see their lord so weak.

Elrond's eyes closed and his arm hung loosely down troubled whispering and worried exclamation began.

Glorfindel felt that Elrond lost his control over his body with every passing second as the left the hall. Concerned he looked at Erestor:  
"Erestor go to the healers and bring Master Curien to Elrond's and Celebrian's chambers, I'm afraid we need his help, some sort of illness plagues Elrond and I don't know which. Also please try to find the twins and Arwen, the deserve to be with their father"

Erestor nodded and left, while Glorfindel looked at Elrond again. The halfelf had begun to sweat profusely, but he shivered as if he lay in the middle of the misty mountains. Elrond hung unconscious in Glorfindel's arms as they reached Elrond's rooms. Glorfindel placed Elrond gently on the bed, ten seconds later, Curien ran in and saw how Elrond writhing in pain and sweating on the bed. He leaned over to Elrond and felt for his pulse. After a short time he found a weak but very fast beat. Worried he reached for a clean cloth and wiped the sweat from Elrond's brow. It was very hot to the touch.

"We need to cool him down, Glorfindel could you please fill cold water in the bath tube? And we need tea to ease his pain, my lady Celebrian would you please fetch some?"

Both nodded and left in different directions. Curien undressed Elrond for further examination. He wasn't wounded for the lord of Imladris seldom left with warriors of Imladris to lead the patrol. He also wasn't harmed otherwise, he seemed to be in shape and everything should be well. But it wasn't. The pain seemed to be getting worse, for Elrond was moaning loudly in pain now.

Then it struck Curien: The was just one thing on Arda which could cause suddenly such pain without a warning. Poison.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi guys! Here is a new chapter for you :D I hope you like it, it wasn't beta-read because it's still a present. For those who also read my other stories: I'm so sorry you have to wait so long for another update but I'm really busy with school right now so please forgive me and hopefully I'll be able to update soon.

Thanks to everyone who liked, favorited and followed my story, this really means much to me.

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Elladan ran as fast as he could to the rooms of his father and mother. Elrohir was running next to him and looked just as concerned for the health of his father as he was.

They ran into their mother as they were near the chambers of their parents. She carried a cup of healing tea, which was fed to the ill and wounded, for it was a strong potion against pain and it also strengthens the own healing energy. Worried, Ellandan asked his mother:  
"Do you know which illness plagues father? I see you bring healing tea to him, has Curien new information about father's illness?"

-"Curien examines your father right now but he is in great pain so I fetched a pain killing tea. I don't know which illness plagues Elrond but I hope from the depths of my heart, that he can be healed. Let's go to your father now, I don't want him to feel more pain because I delayed."

The went to the rooms in which Elrond laid and saw him moaning in agony. Curien stood in front of a table and crashed some herbs, Glorfindel was in the bathroom and prepared a cold bath for Elrond. Celebrian ran to Elrond ans fed him the healing tea. Elrohir began to stroke his father's hair. Ellandan felt completely useless. He stood in the door and did nothing else than to listen to his fathers soft whispers of delirium.

Curien called Elladan to help him with the herbs and medicine, after he saw the younger of the twins just standing in the middle of the room and staring at his father.

Elladan walked to Curien after he heard his request.

"What ails father?",

he asked in a low voice.

"I don't know for sure, but I think, your father has been poisoned."

"Poisoned? Who would poison father?"

"I don't know Elladan, how could I? I'll try to heal him but I can't promise you I'll succeed."

Celebrian looked shocked at Curien, she had overheard everything, and asked:

"Will he die?"

Curien bit his lower lip before he answered:

"I don't know, my lady. I can promise you, that I try my best but I can't promise you he'll live. The poison seems to be a strong one. Our only option is to try to draw the poison out of his system and to find an antidote. Otherwise he is lost to us."

Glorfindel appeared in the room and said.

"The bath is ready. I put some Athelas in, I hope that was right."

Curien nodded and said:

"That was very thoughtful of you Glorfindel, thank you very much. Could you please help me carrying Elrond in the bathroom?"

As they lifted Elrond, Glorfindel hissed:

"He is so hot, we have to get him in that bath quickly."

Curien just nodded and they laid Elrond in the cold bath. He moaned in pain as his skin touched the cold water and tried to get out of the pool but Glorfindel and Curien wouldn't let him. After a short time, Elrond ceased his struggle. Celebrian came in and lifted her husband's head to see in his eyes.

They were open and Elrond seemed to be conscious. She stroke his cheek and asked:

"Elrond, can you hear me?"

He nodded and tried to speak but they just heard a soft hoarse whisper:  
"I can hear you."

After that he coughed hard. Celebrian fed him another cup of healing tea. Elrond asked after he finished the tea:

"What is it that ails me? I feel it's something serious but I don't know what. Curien, do you know what it is?"

Curien laid a reassuring hand on Elrond's shoulder before he said:

"I'm not sure, but I think it's poison my lord. I tried to figure out which one it is, but I didn't come to a conclusion, so I need a sample of the poison, that means I need some of your blood."

Elrond nodded and said:

"Go ahead, take some but hurry, I don't know how long I still have to live if it is really a poison."

Elladan bit his lower lip and came into the room. His father was still in the bath and seemed conscious this time. He had wanted to ask his father if Nuriel could really stay in Imladris but he wasn't sure any more if it was such a good idea now because his dad was in a very bad condition. But maybe this was the last time he could ask him if Nuriel could stay.

"Adar, I know it's not the best time to ask but I really want to know if Nuriel, the girl I saved yesterday, could stay. She has no home and lived her whole life long in the forest alone. I offered her to stay her but I would like to ask you if she is allowed to."

Elrond smiled tiredly and reached out for Elladan:

"My son, if this girl is important for you she may stay. I just want you to be happy and I see that you would be more happy if she stays."

Elladan beamed and went to his father to kiss his brow:

"Thank you father"

He said and ran to Nuriel to tell her to good news.

As he came in Nuriel's room, he saw her reading a book from their library. Nuriel looked up as she saw Elladan coming in the room.

"How are you?",

asked Elladan and sat next to Nuriel's bed on a chair.

She smiled and answered:  
"I'm fine, what is with your father, is he alright, or...?",

She trailed of not wanting to hurt Elladan by saying something wrong. Elladan swallowed the lump of emotion forming in his throat:  
"Our healer, Curien, thinks my father was poisoned. We don't know yet if he'll live, it depends on how fast we find an antidote."

"I'm sorry.",said Nuriel. Elladan nodded and looked on his fingers. Nuriel began talking about her family to Elladan and he listened to her story about her parents. Elladan learnt that Nuriel was an only child, which was not uncommon under Elves.

"What happened to your parents?",

asked Elladan.

"They were killed in an attack long ago. Our village traded with men, we exchanged food for clear water, but one day, we hadn't got enough water to trade with the men, the water was even not enough for us. We had enough food, so we didn't need to trade. But the leader of the humans got angry and swore to kill everyone of us and everyone who helps us. Nearly everyone got killed that day I managed to escape but they chased me. I hid in the forest you found me in. The time you found me, I had lived there for 300 years. I fear they will find me and harm someone who has helped me or me."

Elladan gasped:

"How can they know you are here? And that is 300 years ago. Every men would be dead by now. Nuriel, I want you to know, that I'll protect you, even if it will cause my own death. I won't let anyone hurt you, do you understand me?"

Nuriel look at him with tears in her eyes:

"I don't fear for my live, Elladan. I fear for yours. You helped me after I was wounded. It doesn't matter, if the men who swore to kill us are dead. Their sons will find me and kill me and you!"

Tears formed in her eyes:

"I don't want you to be hurt, Elladan. I care for you!"

Elladan came near Nuriel, embraced her and talked to her in a soothing voice:

"Nuriel, don't fear. I care about you too. I care about you a lot. I think I even feel more than just concern for you. I think I love you."

Tbc


End file.
